Chad Cain works to fill an order of wings at Slick Pig barbecue restaurant. The iconic eatery has been open in Murfreesboro for nearly 20 years.

Written by

Samantha E. Donaldson
The Daily News Journal

You really can't get much more mom-and-pop than Slick Pig, which has been owned by the Robinson family for nearly 20 years.

"We haven't always been in the restaurant," says John Robinson as he preps the sweet tea dispensers before the doors open and the rush of regulars floods in. "My dad was an aircraft mechanic, and my mom worked with Eastern Airlines cleaning the planes."

His parents lost their jobs while he was in high school and after spending a few years doing odd jobs, they hadn't found steady work. Robinson, who had attended college on a baseball scholarship, was injured and turned to ...